No strange room or temporary amnesia this time. Even through the pounding in her head, Nikki recognized Carson's scent and the sound of his well-tuned truck.
And another cologne. Cloying. Hideously familiar.
The rest mushroomed back to life in her brain. Kevin. In the parking lot. Her mind blazed with thoughts of the night Gary died...then everything went dark.
Did Carson know? Had Kevin somehow stolen the truck?
She started to open her eyes—then rethought. For the moment she would stay limp against the shoulder harness anchoring her to the heated seats until she figured out what was going on.
"Avery—" Carson's voice rumbled from beside her on the driver's side "—you really don't want to do this."
Just the sound of him filled her with love—and dread that he should be here at all. She'd prayed he was safe back at the church, searching for her, alerting the cops.
Anywhere but here.
"Nikki didn't leave me any choice," Kevin answered from behind her. "She kept digging for the memories."
"You killed Owens?" The shock in Carson's voice echoed within her. Kevin and Gary were friends. Kevin seemed so clean-cut and honorable. Except hadn't she just realized— how long since she'd been at the support meeting?—that military people had flaws and bad apples like anywhere else. Like the police force or other professions that as a whole pledged to protect.
But ohmigod, this went beyond a simple problem.
"Well, Major, I bet on a few games every once and a while to pay off my college loans. A top-notch education is important for getting ahead. You should understand that since your family could afford the best."
Kevin's hot breath blasted against her hair as he moved closer to her. Did he have a gun? He must, or Carson would have taken him out.
The truck shifted into a turn. "A Chief of Staff doesn't have a gambling addiction and bash in people's skulls."
Leather behind her creaked. "A Chief of Staff definitely doesn't have the taint of a gambling addiction on his record—" Kevin's words tumbled faster, angry "—and Owens was going to out me, just because he didn't like my little sideline of taking bets to pay my college loans faster."
"You were a bookie?"
It was all Nikki could do not to blurt her surprise, as well. Good God, how did he expect to keep that a secret? The guy really was an idiot—or so deep in his addiction he'd lost all sense of reason.
"Owens was going to rat me out, something about loyalty to the program. Jesus, all I did was help a few of his buddies in the program make a little extra at the racetrack."
Avery had targeted Gambler's Anonymous members? The guy truly was lower than slime. For money or his addiction or ambition, he'd sold his soul and bartered a few more along with it.
"I couldn't let that happen." His tenor tones pitched higher, faster. High-strung and nervous could be an advantage if they caught him unaware, or a liability if he got twitchy. "I had everything planned perfectly for Nikki to take the fall for an accidental death, self-defense during a rape attempt. Even drugged up, she fought a little when I took her clothes off after Owens was dead. But that just helped set the scene even better."
It took everything inside her to stifle down a shudder of revulsion at Kevin's hands on her while she was helpless. Her cheek even ached with the phantom memory of being slapped. Carson's low growl, however, vibrated the seat.
Kevin's forearm slid around her neck, against her throat. "The Rohypnol I put in her drink should have made her forget everything, but almost right away word spreads around the squadron that she was getting some of her memory back. She must not have drank enough of the Rohypnol or she has some funky body chemistry. Regardless, I couldn't risk her remembering. I'd hoped the fall from her balcony would look like suicide from the stress."
"You tried to kill her?"
Nikki stifled her gasp of relief that Gary hadn't been untrustworthy after all, a fact she would savor later, but for now she needed to listen. And while she couldn't think of any logical reason for Kevin to spill all—beyond egotistical gloating before he killed them—she appreciated the bit of peace his words brought.
"I had the whole thing planned. I even sent her the fake e-mail from Gary to meet at Beachcombers. I sent one to Gary, too, with a half hour later arrival so I would have time to take care of her drink without him hovering over her like a lovesick nimrod. Thanks to that super sexy note, he really thought she wanted to get a VOQ room for a night together, and of course she was too drugged up to tell him otherwise. I'm so damn smart I even sent the e-mails from a base computer and the school library where Nikki tutors so they wouldn't be traceable back to me."
No wonder Reis had been checking out the high school.
Each of Carson's overly deliberate, controlled exhales filled the cab. "If you wanted her dead, why slash her tires?"
"That wasn't me. The way I hear it from Will, that kid of his really did have a crush on her. He would do anything to get her attention."
"Dude, you can't just shoot us."
Could Carson know she was awake and be filtering info? How could he know when she didn't dare give the least hint for fear Kevin would see?